Painting company provides jobs, business experience to college students

Submitted photo
Dayne Porter, left, poses with Betty Perry after he painted her fence. Porter is the branch manager of Student Painters in the CSRA.

Dayne Porter is using he internship for more than just experience; he’s using it to give back to the community.

A senior business management major at Clemson, Porter is bringing the Student Painters company to the CSRA. Student Painters is a company that lets college students run a business, which is what Porter is hoping to do after graduating in December.

“This is my internship through Clemson, and I took it up just to get real-world experience because I eventually want to run my own business when I’m out of school,” he said. “When I leave Clemson this December, I want to have an idea of what I want to do, it may be with Student Painters or my own business.”

Porter has worked for Student Painters for three years in the Upstate, but is finally bringing the brand back to his hometown.

“The past two years I ran the business in Anderson, right near Clemson, and they wanted to start in Georgia and North Augusta,” he said. “They decided to send me down here, since this is my hometown. I have to do everything you would think of, as far as running a business. No holds barred. I do all of the marketing, estimating of jobs, selling of jobs, hiring all of the workers and finding leads for the jobs. I also have to manage my crews during the summer because we paint from the beginning of May until mid-August; we paint all summer.”

For his branch in the CSRA, Porter is expanding on what he learned in Anderson.

“We would do around 40 jobs in Anderson. I’m trying to do double the amount of work in the area,” he said. “I want to do 60 or more. Some jobs are really small, maybe a half-day of work, so I think we can hit that number. This area is really awesome, and I’m running a bigger crew – I’m running two crews instead of the traditional one crew with four or five guys on it. I have 15 guys hired, and we’ll do training this month through Sherwin-Williams, and I’ll find my solid crews.”

Part of Porter’s excitement of bringing Student Painters to North Augusta is helping bring jobs back to the area.

“It’s very exciting to be able to bring good jobs back to my hometown,” he said. “Most students in the area, college and high school, have trouble finding a good-paying job that they can work in the summer. That’s what Student Painters provides.”

The goal for Porter’s Student Painters branch is, like most businesses, to make money. Porter plans to take the money he earns and pay off his tuition to Clemson.

“With the money I make this summer, I plan to pay off my tuition to Clemson, and, with the remaining money, I’m going to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project,” he said. “I’m hoping to give anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000. I’m definitely giving $1,000, I just hope we do enough business where I can give even more.”

For a house painting estimate or employment information, call Porter at 803-221-8822 or email him at mdporte@g.clemson.edu.

T.J. Lundeen is a reporter for The North Augusta Star. Follow him on Twitter @lundeentj for more updates.